User:Ruby369/sandbox

Historical Context
Brooklyn was set during a time when Irish migration to New York was thriving. The initial boom of Irish immigration to the US can be traced back the 1840s. Irish immigrants were more inclined to move to Brooklyn during the period following the Irish Potato Famine (1845-49) due to the fact that the Great Famine depleted the working class’ chief source of nutrition causing a crash in the economy. After the Great Depression and World War II the rate of Irish immigration to New York had vastly lowered, but newly arriving citizens would still be able to find bustling Irish communities in which women were arguably a more significant presence than men. These women immigrants were often very active in the workplace, placing marriage ambitions on hold to find practical occupations in places such as supermarkets, eateries and stores. Eilis makes her journey from Ireland to America in the 1950s, along with approximately 50,000 other immigrants (around a quarter of which moved to New York) as a part of the second minor wave of migration. Many of these citizens were in search of steadier jobs and a happier lifestyle. There were also smaller surges of immigrants from many other countries at this time, leading to modern day America becoming a vast land of many different cultures.